In Part 1 of this series, I pointed you to a recent talk by John Seely Brown on the whitewater-kayaking kind of learning we need today and in Part 2, examples of that in Marianne Malmstrom's New Jersey classroom. Both touch on "safety" in and for the learning process. Here, Part 3: zooming in on how they and other wise educators have clarified my view of child safety today. What safety is … [Read more...] about The 7 properties of safety in a digital age
online safety
Advancing digital literacy in the US
There is little consensus on the definition of "digital literacy." One participant on a panel about it here at a Safer Internet Day conference in Moscow threw everything into the definition – media literacy, online safety, computer literacy, etc. Wikipedia basically defines it as "the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyze information using digital technology," suggesting … [Read more...] about Advancing digital literacy in the US
Google+ for teens launched
Google has just made its Google+ social networking service teen-friendly. What that means is, all the features that some 90 million Google+ users have now – Circles, Hangouts (group videochat), photo-sharing, games, etc. – are available to people under 18 but now with added protections in place. For example, the San Jose Mercury News reports, "Google+ will ask [teens] to confirm a public post … [Read more...] about Google+ for teens launched
A class as a team of co-learners
…with the focus on the learners, which can certainly include the teacher. This is the conceptual infrastructure, presented in educator Jackie Gerstein's User-Generated Education blog, for using tech in the classroom. How does it play out? More emphasis on learners and learning, using technology to facilitate that. Starting when a class first meets. Literally – as in everybody really meeting each … [Read more...] about A class as a team of co-learners
Google’s data-security ed campaign & site
This week Google launched an ad campaign and Web site headlined "Good To Know," according to a report at the Washington Post. Aimed at teaching Net users the basics of protecting their data in our increasingly social media environment, the campaign has ads appearing in "dozens of U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and magazines, including Time … [Read more...] about Google’s data-security ed campaign & site